In an inauspicious start to talks over awarding Greece a third bailout, worldwide officials have postponed the negotiations after failing to agree with their hosts where they will stay and how they will operate when in Athens.
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A vendor sells lottery tickets outside a bank in Athens, Friday, July 24, 2015. Last week, MPs approved a set of austerity measures including economic reforms, tax rises and budget cuts demanded by the eurozone creditors.
One was a popular student studying to be a radiology technician, while the other was an outgoing artist who ran retail boutiques in two Louisiana cities. It is widely expected that the bailout will come through, it’s just a matter of when.
It is unclear when International Monetary Fund officials will be joining the negotiations. Without the money Greece would likely be forced to leave the euro.
Greece’s parliament has passed legislation on a second batch of reforms needed to help unlock a huge global bailout for the country’s stricken economy.
Greece had said that negotiators were scheduled to fly to Athens on Friday to begin the talks, but this swiftly became “in the coming days”, according to a European Commission spokesman, with the location of the talks and offices for the creditors apparently among the sticking points. However, their next major deadline is later next month on 20 August, when they will be requited to pay the European Central Bank (ECB) €3.2bn.
The Syriza government, which had previously vowed to never let the auditors set foot in Greece again, is understood to be irritated by demands that the creditor team is given free access to ministries and files, the Guardian reported.
The night he was elected prime minister, a jubilant Alexis Tsipras declared the troika “a thing of the past”.
Since its first bailout in 2010, Greece’s economy has shrunk by a quarter, while unemployment has rocketed to record peacetime highs and incomes have shrunk an average of 40 percent. “This means there will be less money to invest in public spending, which could invite the ire of the Greek people, who have already endured many years of austerity“.
Having steered the country toward a “NO VOTE” in the recent bailout referendum, only to then accept even harsher terms and conditions, the government secured a small bridge loan of Euro 7.0 bn so as to keep the national finances ticking over.
The government has said it hopes negotiations on the bailout deal can start this week and be wrapped up by August. 20.
“We must all adapt ourselves to this new situation”, he said, claiming that “Europe’s conservative forces had achieved only a Pyrrhic victory over Greece”.
Now comes the hard part: both the sides will have to negotiate over key issues that include the debt relief talks. Many of Greece’s shipping heavyweights say the burden of doing business under a new tax law would be too much for their firms to bear.
Banks reopened Monday after the ECB approved raising the limits on emergency liquidity it sends Greece.
“With time, the situation is returning to normal”.
Kavvathas said check transactions still pose a problem for businesses.
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An unnamed SYRIZA official said new elections are “on the cards” – as soon as “special congress” discussions resolve internal issues. Contributors: Ian Wishart, Rebecca Christie and Jonathan Stearns in Brussels, Eleni Chrepa in Athens, Patrick Donahue in Berlin, Anchalee Worrachate in London and Paul Gordon in Frankfurt.
